Machine for numbering sheets.



R. GOMPP. MACHINE FOR NUMBERING SHEETS.

APPLICATION FILED MAB. 7, 1912.

COLUIIIA MMWR co.. WAIHINUNN. D, c:

UNTTED sTATEs RUDOLF eoMrr, or BERLIN, GERMANY.

MACHINE FOR NUMBERING Sil-IEEI'IS.`

Specication of Letters Yatent.

Patented Sept. 10, 1912.

Application filed March 7, 1912. Serial No. 682,211.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, RUDOLF GOMPF, a subject of the German Empire, and residmg at 2*(*27a Elisabethstrasse, Berlin, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Numbering Sheets, of which the following is a specification, such as will enable others skilled in the the same.

This invention permitsl the use in a single' already been employed for a long time forV smaller figures, irrespective as to whether the printed matter has to be produced 1n sheets on the surface printing press, or continuously on rotary presses from the roll o f paper. For the purpose of numbering 1t has also hitherto been necessary, when using one or the other or both of these kinds of printing presses, to print from clichs. or stereotypes, to arrange the corresponding sheets stage-like in layers and then to cut these layers into larger or smaller packets. This method of production entailed great loss of time, but was impossible to avoid owing, as already mentioned, to the imposslbility of being able practically to employ on the press consecutively numbering devices with large type, because the areato be covered by the printing is; often,l in the printing or feeding direction, not much greater than the large numbers with two or more digits. Smaller devices with figuretypes of a height of th to 15' were employed long ago, more particularly on the rotary presses, because these smaller devices could be arranged easily on a single cylinder, 1.() being the -largest number required for a continuous numbering (Fig. 1, smaller device 9-0 at a). Thus a press, consisting of a pair of printing cylinders (the cylinders holding the type with the counter cylinders) and an inking mechanism for inking the type of the ten devices distributed around the circumference of the printing cylinder, suffices for continuously numbering even small sheets with such small figures. These printed matters, as a great output capacity of the rotary press assists per se the production on a large scale, were only produced in single width, that is to say generally only in narrow strips. Then in order art of which it appertams to make and use later to facilitate in practice the manipulation of the finished printed production it presses` again to wind up or to collect together into packets the narrow paper strips after having been suitably perforated. The production of this printed matter with small figures as compared with that with large figures is consequently much simpler and from a productive standpoint much more practical, irrespective of any advantages in their subsequent practical employment.

Now the object of the present invention 'was a very easy mat-ter with the rotary f is to be able continuously to number such l printed matter during its production onthe rotary, press also with large figures;l As has already been stated` the sizes concernedwith such gummed labels and the like are generally very small in the printing direction, often only slightly larger than numbers of three or more digits. The arrangement of the 10 devices absolutely necessary for a consecutive numbering with large figures is consequently impossible on a single cylinder because with the radial position of the type their distance from middle to middle would be much greater than` the size of the sheet to `be numbered. Furthermore the printing -cylinder would have to be of such large dimensions that the great weight concentrated on one point, of the printing cylinder provided With large and very heavy printing devices would necessitate exceptionally large and heavy dimensions of the whole rotary press. Now in order to overcome the'disadvantage of too large dimensions of the press and its parts and more particularly to permit the printing of even the smallest dimensions with large figures by large printing devices rolling ott on a continuous strip of paper or stuft', the present invention provides, and this constitutes its essential features, several small printing cylinders on which the various printing devices are so practically distributed that their mutual arrangement and the arrangement of the figures, is'such that there results a continuous numbering from 0 to 99 or 0 to 999 as `desired. The length of the course of the continuous strip of paper or material from one cylinder to the other must be so regulated that each of the 10 printing devicesduring the rotation when rolling ofi"l 0n the strip of paper or stuff encounters a separate sheet of ten consecutive sheets.

Referring to the accompanying drawing :Figure 1 shows an arrangement according to the present invention for consecutively numbering` with large figures from 0 to 999, at the same time printing the small figures. Fig. 2 shows the development of some of the type disks.

This arrangement is chosen so as simultaneously to show in one illustration the difference between the already known system of continuously numbering with small figure-printing devices and the new invention consisting in the continuous numbering during the printing process by means of large figure-printing devices.

The printing cylinders b, c, d, e, f for the large numbering devices as well as also the print-ing cylinder a for the small numbering devices are of such circumference around their rolling periphery (indicated by dotted. circles in Fig. 1) as to be equal to the length of ten sheets of the paper roll or textile web. The necessary ten small numbering devices ILO-l1. can easily be arranged on such a printing cylinder, because l each device on the circumference of the cylinder is within the dimensions of one sheet. It is evident, however, from Fig. 1 that there is far too little space on a single printing cylinder to receive the ten large numbering devices 1-2'10; consequently for receiving the ten large numbering devices five printing cylinders b, c, d, e, f, each two yof which work together with one of the impression cylinders e, Z are provided, whereas in the form of construction shown the one print-ing cylinder f has an impression cylinder m which also serves for the printing cylinder a provided with the small numbering device. The inkingof the Ivarious numbering devices is effected by means of the inking apparatus n, 0,.;9. Two large numbering devices are arranged diametrically opposite each other on each of the tive printing cylinders Z), c, d, e, y". Now the position of the figures of the oppositely situated numbering devices on each of the live printing cylinders must be exactly the same as the position of the ligures of the oppositely situated numbering devices of a single printing cylinder provided with ten printing devices. On such a printing cylinder, as regards the units, the types O and 5, l and 6, 2 and 7, 3 and 8, 4 and 9 would be situated opposite each other. The adjustment of one pair of numbering devices with respect to the four other pairs as regards their printing consecutively is very easily effected because the correctencountering of the numbering device on a special sheet of ten consecutive sheets of the paper roll or textile web is attained by regulating the length of the course of the roll or web between the groups of cylinders. The ten numbering devices will then. coperate to form a consecutive numbering, if the paper roll or textile web is so conducted that cach sheet of the roll or web occupying a definite position in the order from 0-10 correctly encounters the correspondingly adjusted device intended for its numbering. In order thus to regulate the length of the course of the paper roll or textile web g, adjustable stretching .rollers g, '/1 are arranged in the path of the roll or web between the impression cylinders 7c, Z and l, m.

The numbering devices must be so arranged that besides the units, each numbering device has rigidly mounted another number of figures from 0 9, and on cach complete revolution that 10 is inserted which corresponds to the position which the sheet reaching the printing spot at the moment occupies in the sequence of sheets that has already passed the printing spot. After ten revolutions the printing cylinder inserts the corresponding hundred which is continuously changed on each further tenth revolution, until after printing the last number with three digits, the numbering devices either re-assume their initial positions or switch on the thousands according to the number of type-wheels with which each numbering device is provided.

It is evident of course that the consecutive numbering can be effected backward instead of forward, that is to say one can begin with the thousands or hundreds, switch on to the tens and change at the units; indeed this backward numbering will, be that generally employed, because as already stated above, the printed matters in question are frequently rolled up again by Leporello or like foldingsystems, so that the end of the winding-up or of the folded packet must be regardedas the commencement of the finished printed product. This circumstance has been taken into consideration in the example shown in the drawing in Fig. 1. Here also the unprinted strip unrolled from the paper roll or textile web s after being printed and consecutively numbered is wound up again at t. 1n this case the numbering is effected with large numbers of three digits from 999 backward down to 0, and at the printing device l has returned to O51 and consequently at ,the printing device V2 to live places less that is to say to 046, at printing device to 0119 and consequently at printing device t to 041i, at printing device 5 to 037 vand consequently at printing device to 032, at printing device 2'7 to 035 and consequently at printing device s to O30, at printing device to O23 and consequently at printing device 1 to 018. The still unprinted sheets between the cylinders It, Z and Z, m get arranged in order on the i-urtherpasr sage of the strip from one printing cylinder to the other, so that the strip on leaving the printing device 1 shows a consecutive numbering on the sheets following one after the other.

l/Vhat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States of America is 1. A rotary press for continuously numbering the sheets in paper rolls or textile webs by printing by means of large figureprinting, comprising means for consecutively numbering with large igures and distributed among a plurality of printing cylinders arranged one behind t-he other in pairs, an impression cylinder coperating with each pair of the said printing cylinders, means for adjusting the length of the course of the paper roll or textile web between the pairs of print-ing cylinders, an inking apparatus, whereby by correspondingly adjust ing and operating the type wheels of t-he numbering devices the latter mutually cooperate to produce a `consecutive numbering on the sheets of the paper roll or textile web.

2. A rotary press for continuously numbering the sheets in paper rolls or textile webs by printing by means of large ligureprinting, comprising five printing cylinders (l), o, d, e, f), each provided with two diametrically opposite numbering devices, impression cyiinders and Z) common to the cylinders ib, c and d, e) respectively, a sep arate impression cylinder for the printing cylinder f), means for adjusting the length of the course of the paper roll or textile web between the pairs of printing cylinders, and an inking apparatus.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two witnesses.

RUDOLF GOMPF. Witnesses:

WOLDEMAR HAUPT, HENRY HASPER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner -of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

